Month: April 2016

I wish I was Prince’s half-sister. If I was, then I might possibly have hidden music talent and some sweet dance moves just waiting to be discovered – and I might be inheriting a whole lot of money.

I don’t want an inheritance because of greed; rather, because it was announced this week that Prince didn’t have a will when he died. In Minnesota, that means that his estate will probably go to his closest surviving family members: his sister and five half-siblings. My heart sank when I heard that because I’m afraid his estimated $300,000,000 fortune won’t be spent the way Prince would have spent it.

I feel it’s very important to handle an inheritance in the way the deceased would have wanted, whether it’s money, land, creative work, a lot of blinged-out instruments, or funky purple clothes. Unfortunately, even with a will in place, the inner compass of many people seems to suddenly point to a dark side when handling an inheritance. The deceased is often left in the dust as a distant memory while the recipients excitedly plunder the belongings and squander the inheritance. I’ve witnessed this far too often in my lifetime and it causes me to fear that it’s the norm for the compass of the human race to point to greed.

Prince was the exact opposite of greedy. So many of his donations to institutions and organizations around Minnesota were given with the condition of anonymity. Prince wanted nothing in return for his charity other than to know that other people were being given creative opportunities and a shot at a successful life. If he would have lived another thirty to forty years I know that he would have helped countless people in that time with his millions of dollars. It makes me sad to think about all of the people who will probably no longer receive the creative boost they might need now that the purple philanthropist is gone.

I have to say that I was surprised that Prince didn’t have a will to make sure that the world would continue benefiting from his fortune. Sometimes it Snows in April is one of my favorite Prince songs. It’s from a movie soundtrack where he played a guy who died too soon. It makes me cry now every time I hear it because the lyrics seem so prophetic. He sang about death and the afterlife in so many of his songs that I have to imagine that he also thought extensively about his own death and what would happen to his estate once he was gone.

I can only hope that all of Prince’s siblings who inherit his fortune, have also inherited the same generous spirit he was born with, and continue giving to this world in his name.

I realized when I made the photo for this post that I actually kind of look like Prince (when I neglect my facial hair removal). I’m a little over 5′ 2″ and I’m built a lot like Prince (not anything I was proud of until now). I’m now toying with the idea of heading to Las Vegas to become a Prince impersonator. I was also born with a generous creative spirit, so any money I might make in Vegas will be donated to one of his many charities – in Prince’s name.